D18- Magatoatoa hut to Makomako hut

It's still raining in the morning and given it's a half day i might aswell sleep in. The rain eases to drizzel by 10.30 so i push out. From the hut, the track drops down to the forks, where it climbs a spur on the otherside. This time its only 200m and it's not too steep.
The track starts off ok, but soon deteriorates when it reaches the ridgeline. Its more of a soaking wet bush bash than a track, miserable but not exactly hardship. With no sun to charge the phone, gps is not allowed unless life or death. Ive had to start writing this stuff on paper to transfer over when there's more power.
The drizzel soon reverts to rain, as the track follows the ridgeline before dropping down to the next stream. From here it repeats the whole thing again untill crossing the next stream to emerge at Makomako hut. Its tidier than i was expecting from an easy acess hut, there's even some firewood and an onion to add to my balanced diet. 8 bunks, woodburner tank. It's only been a 3hr walk but im soaked and cold. It's the last hut for a while, and with an ample supply of food im not going anywhere till the weather improves. In the evening a hind comes within 15m of the hut and would of been an easy feed if i had a dispatch method.

D17- Te Rangaakapua hut to Magatoatoa hut

The weather hasn't changed in the morning, so its back on with the coat and gloves and back into it. The track initaly follows the ridge through Leatherwood scrub and cloud forest. This tracks in worse condition than the last and it's easy to loose in limited visablility.
After about a km it heads west down a spur and its a repeat of yesterday only in reverse- leatherwood, stunted beech, snow damaged beech, and eventually into the mature podocarp of the Urewera rainforest. Loosing altitude the wind stops and visablility increases but the drizzel turns to rain. I miss the turn off to Magatoatoa and finally checking gps I've overshot by a km. Backtracking i find a rotting wooden sighn at the junction, the words unreadable but at least marking the spot. Its another 30mins down a more gentle spur to the stream. Magatoatoa hut is located on the other side between the forks.
It looks a bit rough on the outside but inside its flash by Urewera standards. Its got 6-8 bunks, woodburner and a tank. Its only 1-30 but with the rain and a sore foot i decide to split todays walk over 2 days, effectively  giving a second days rest. There's plenty to read and a dartboard if u get board with that. A tin of beetroot adds some well needed roughage to my diet.

D16- Tawa hut to Te Rangaakapua hut

Im still tired from yesterday( normal on new years day). However its another long slog so an early start is required. The benched track continues for half a km before turning away up the Kahanui. Im going south up the makakaore stream, so its back to the riverbed. Its not worth descbing- starts of broad but soon narrowes with a few bolders. It could be any stream I've walked up so far.
2.5 hours up stream an orange triangle marks a track on the true right, which follows a terrace to Makakaore hut- 6 bunks, open fire and tank. Being further from the road it get less use than the busier huts in the valley
Its about the same again upstream to the Te Ranga track. Its starts off very easy with grassy banks either side and the most deer sighn yet- 4 seen. Half way up it narrows and the gradient increases and back to bolder scrambles and wading through deep pools between rapids. A crumpled piece of aluminium washed up in the debris has no explanation- there's nothing further upstream from here. It looks like part of an aircraft wreckage.
I  cant say I've been looking forward to climbing Te Rangaakapua, partly because i can't say Te Rangaakapua, partly because it's a 700m climb straight up from the vally floor. The marker indicating the start of the track is almost completely obscured by scrub, tho I've smashed some of it back now, still you need to know where to look. The track is not maintained but has new orange markers starting about 100m up, i loose it a few times but it's relitively easy to find in the open forest, it's just bloody steep, climbing the first 500m in just over a km.
The forest has been slowly changing up the valley, but once on the spur is predominantly beech, gone are the tawa, punga, supple jack tangled semi sub- tropical forest ive seen so far. Part of the way up theres a section where fallen branches litter the track, all uniform age and can only be snow damage from the dumping in August.
Nearing the top the trees shrink and become stunted mountain beech ( cloud /goblin forest). Entering the clouds it starts to drizzel and a mountain wind picks up. Once on the ridge it drops, climbs, drops and climbs untill poping out above the tree line at the summit. At 1320m it's not Everest, but its the highest peak for miles and the highest so far this trip. I've also crossed the magic line between the Waioeka conservation area and Te Urewera national park. There's meant to be panoramic veiws over the Waioeka, Waikaramoa and Whakatane catchments, tho all i see is mist. Its also cold for the first time.
The poorly cut track continues through cloud forest and leatherwood scrub untill the hut. Te Rangaakapua hut is a sanctuary from the storm., its a tiny 3 bunk hut with a woodburner and water tank. Its cosy and warm with the fire going. Its parlty carpeted and full of odds and ends, pots and pans, and enough reading for a week stranded in a storm. It's rarely visited, with only 2 parties sighning in in 2016.

D15- Kotepato hut to Tawa hut

It wasn't the best sleep I've had with the kids talking shit all night, playing with a flashlight and asking me stupid questions. The same continued in the morning, resulting in a quick breakfast and early start.
Following the track back downstream, i bypass the gourge and cross the Waioeka back into farmland, this time following the sighn to Nikau.
Following the farm track, it turns into another benched pack track siddleing the river. Its well maintained and easy walking. After crossing major side stream, a slips washed away the track. There's a monument to a tramper who fell trying to cross. However, theres a steel wire been recently installed and its easy to cross. Shortly after the track drops down to Nikau Flats hut- 6 bunk, open fire and tank.
It's become apparent that I've been putting too much food in my resuplys. Ive still got bits bought in Ruatoria. With a clear forecast for the next 5 days i might aswell shed some weight sooner rather than later. Leaving a days worth of lower shelf items in the hut I've still got easily enough for an extra day.
The track stops at Nikau, but theres a possumers track bypassing the first two crossings, which are apparently quite deep. After that its the riverbed all the way. Despite it being a decent sized river, the crossings are all easy, knee to waist deep and on shingle not bolders. They're seperated by rapids and countless deep clear swimming pools. The walking is on shingle or grass, the forest mature tawa with occasional podocarp, ferns and palms. It's probably my favourite bit of the trip yet. One bluffed in section appears to require a difficult scramble or a long swim, but from a higher veiw there's a shingle bar running up the middle, and its an easy waist deep with deep pools either side. 
At the major forks Koranga stream forks SE and Kahanui stream SW. Koranga forks hut is located where they meet. The huts are coming in quickly now. There's a tank, woodburner, 6 bunks and at least 10 people, presumably there to see in the new year, lukily im not staying.
Heading up the Koranga it much the same, just smaller, having lost most of it's flow at the forks. It's another 10km up to Tawa and by the end im starting to tire. The vally becomes narrower and the shingle bolders. Checking the gps im only halfway and consider a night in the bivi, tho camping spots are running out quickly.
Eventually reaching the forks where Tataweka forks to the SW, theres a sight for sore legs. A large arrow points to a well maintained pack track siddleing the true right. Its a few switchbacks to reach but worth the climb at the end of a long day. A conservative sighn says Tawa hut 45 mins, but i knock it 25 despite being at the end of my tether. Tawa hut is a standard nsfs hut with a tank, burner and 6 bunks. Only difference its white and has slatted windows. And I've got the place to myself, removing any obligation to attempt to keep my eyes open until midnight.

D14- Tokenui hut to Kotepato hut

The rain stopped as quick as it started and it's another dry morning. It's a further km up the Tokenui to the major forks where a large triangle points up a steep spur. There's a well marked track up it to the ridgeline which it siddles before droping down another spur to the next stream.
Its an easy walk downstream though broad flats. Theres a few good campsites in here if you needed them. Theres a doc sighn and an arrow making the route out. It looks initially steep but turns out to be another historic road bed. This time maintained. It gradualy switchbacks up the otherwise steep face. Once over the top it sidles a small stream to the road, the final section passes through waist deep blackberry, which might put some people off heading north.
At the bottom a bridge to nowhere (not the bridge to nowhere) provides access to the Manganuku campsite. Its popular with vehicle based campers and its heaving. I've already seen more people than on the rest of the walk put together. There's designated fire pits (looks impossible to cook on), swimming holes (you'd have to que) and a $10 fee. Its the sort of place i passionately avoid.
It also marks the end of the Urutawa's and the start of the waioeka. Whilst a good step down from the Rakumara, the Urutawa's been more of challenge than expected. Following the remains of anchient roads put in in the early 1900's has been intresting but sometimes confusing.
The next five kms down SH2 aren't the most instesting. The traffics in full flow
Heading to gissy for new years. Its the first vehicles ive passes that haven't stopped for a chat, to offer ride, or even a 20 minute yarn with the ute idling. Statisticly its probably the most dangerous part of the trip. You could walk the whole way through the gourge beside, but it looks challenging and would require a few swims. Turning left onto wairata road, its 1.5ks to wairata station where I've left my next food stash.  After crossing the bridge i head down redpaths road to the gate and carpark. From here the track passes through private farmland and permissions should be sought from Mary Redpath, Wairata station. At the end of the track a sighn points to Nikau hut up the river and Kotepato accross the river.            The Waioeka is a big river, however it's wide, shingle and easily crossed. The Kotepato stream starts in a gourge where there's a chest deep section to wade and big bolders to scramble. I find a well marked track on the true right which likely bypassed the gourge. Its a further 10- 15mins upstream to the hut.
Kotepato is an old nzfs hut with a new deck added. There's 6 bunks, water tank and an open fire. There's noisy kids in residence and not the most pleasant night.

D13- Te Waiti hut to Tokenui hut

Its a short back track back up the pack track to the forks. A doc sighn points up tge riverbed, put poking around on the true right i pick up the next pack track. This one's the worst so far but its followable. It passes in and out of regen bush and long grass( the fan). Horses graze in the grassy sections. Once into mature bush its clear and easy to follow.
About half way to Tokenui, an obvious track leads down to the river, crosses it and picks up another pack track on the westen side. This one's not show on the map but it's marked and maintained so i follow. The markers soon stop, the track becomes overgrown and slips make it dangerous to continue. Back where the markers stopped, they head back down to the river, not far from where previously crossed.
Bush bashing up to the original track, its unmarked but followable for 500m, untill a recent looking slip has washed the entire road away. Only option is back down to the river. After wasting over an hour following tracks with little reward i decide to stick to the river, using the path nature provides rather than the one it is slowly reclaiming.
It starts off easy shingle but soon enters a long and narrow gourge - slippery bolders, upstream wading and slow going. A few deep sections require swims. It's senic but cold on an overcast day. An unpassable section must be sidled on the steep bank, flagging tape marks the way.
Eventually the stream opens up, orange markers appear, and an ok track is established on the banks, criss crossings what is left of the flow. Tokenui hut is located in a clearing on the western side and you can't miss it. Again not the flashest, its a small, 4 bunk, plywood box. There's a crumbling open fire and water from the stream. I arrive just in time as the clouds turn to rain.

D12- Pakihi hut to Te Waiti hut

The newly graded cycle track continues north along the Pakihi stream. There's no sighn however indicating the existence of the track into the Wahaatua catchment, and according to the book its only been traveled once in the past 2 years. I head down to the stream to look for it.
Heading upstream, an oranges triangle points up the obvious spur after the first side creek on the true left. There's a reasonably followable track with orange markers, tho it hasn't been cut in a few years. Its a steep climb to the ridgeline, where the track deteriorates. There's a lot of windfall, waist high furns, and its easy to loose the track in places. By the look of it its off doc's maintenance list, and is reminiscent of the Rakumaras. There's about 6 summits along the ridge, the highest being 605m.
Coming down the far side the track improves, dropping down a steep, well defined spur to the Wahaata stream. I was originally intending on a long day to Tokenui, but this sections taken twice as long as expected, so it'll have to be two short days. There's a good spot for a swim in the Wahaata, and on the hottest day yet the water's cool and wonderful.
It looks like an easy walk down the riverbed from here, however im wrong, its much easier. There's another 6 foot pack track cut into a steep bank on the true left. This one hasn't been maintained like the cycleway, theres sections of windfall and slips to get past, but its still an easy walk, keeping a consistent gradient all the way to the confluence with the Tokenui.
From the forks the stream becomes the Te Waiti, there's a couple of crossings untill a pack track appears on the right, climbing slightly to the hut. Its still early, but it seems my progress is being determined by the position of huts and possible campspots more than anything.
The huts not the flashest. Its constructed of 3 prefabricated rooms joined together with a large sheltered deck to the front. There's a bunkroom on either side and a kitchen in the middle, a woodburner but no firewood. The surrounding area is regenerating farmland, punga and blackberry. Its easy access on horseback and foot, so gets a lot of visitors, mainly hunters.